Bayside man found with 110 packages of marijuana after fire breaks out at his apartment

What started as a small fire at a Bayside apartment complex ended with a major pot bust earlier this week.

According to police, more than 110 packages of marijuana and $150,000 in cash were found inside an apartment on 1 Bay Club Dr. in the Bay Terrace neighborhood after police and firefighters responded to a fire there at 12:26 a.m. on Nov. 8.

The fire on the balcony, which was surrounded by trash, was extinguished by firefighters. An officer from the 109th Precinct at the scene noticed four open boxes within the residence, each of which contained large quantities of marijuana.

Yong Choi, 27 — who resides at the location — appeared at the door of the home. When the officer asked about the marijuana inside the apartment, according to the criminal complaint, Choi allegedly said that “he needed to make money.”

Police then obtained and executed a search warrant of Choi’s apartment, and recovered 110 packages of marijuana, a scale, a money counting machine, numerous empty plastic bags typically used in packaging marijuana and $172,423 dollars in cash.

Choi faces charges of criminal possession of marijuana, criminal sale of marijuana and criminal use of drug paraphernalia.